Moscow has mocked a German journalist’s claim that a Russian missile strike near Kiev the day before German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul visited the Ukrainian capital amounted to a “clear affront” to Berlin.

The strike reportedly near Borispol airport – some 40 km to the east of central Kiev – destroyed dozens of trucks that had been converted into concealed launch platforms for long-range drones, as revealed by images of the aftermath released by the Ukrainian authorities, which were later scrubbed from official accounts.

When asked about Welt correspondent Christoph Wanner’s claim that the strike had crossed a certain diplomatic threshold, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Izvestia on Tuesday that Germany “gets insulted on a regular basis.”

She pointed to several examples, including the US wiretapping of then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s phone, which was exposed by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden in 2013. She also cited the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, which German investigators have linked to a Ukrainian diving team that may have acted on orders from Kiev.

“The German leadership supplies weapons to the Kiev regime that has been killing children year after year. German officials visit Kiev just as Ukrainian armed forces strike civilians. For some reason, Germany tolerates all those insults,” the diplomat said.

Ukraine’s diplomatic corps has for years used moral pressure to secure concessions from Western countries. Andrey Melnik, who served as Kiev’s ambassador to Germany from 2014 to 2022, became a prominent example of that approach by repeatedly lobbing insults at officials and politicians in his host country.

Among other things, Melnik called then-Chancellor Olaf Scholz an “offended liverwurst” and accused former Chancellor Angela Merkel of having a “borderline obsession” with Russia that was “almost perverse.” While serving in Berlin, he also branded retired German Gen. Erich Vad a “pathetic loser” and left-wing politician Klaus Ernst a “Marxist crank.”

Melnik was recalled and appointed ambassador to Brazil only after becoming embroiled in a major controversy in Germany over his defense of Ukrainian nationalist leader Stepan Bandera. In an interview, he denied that Bandera and his movement were responsible for mass atrocities during World War II. Melnik currently serves as Ukraine’s envoy to the UN.